We live in an age where our car is far more than a mode of transportation. For many, our cars are a second office. Longer commutes mean that we need ready access to our coffee cups, notepad and paper, sunglasses, hand-held computers (e.g. a PALM PILOT) and the like. Although many automobile manufacturers have provided space for more items, many new vehicles, and most older vehicles, still lack an appropriate space to hold necessary articles.
We also live in an age where we need access to certain devices, such as a cellular phone, while we are driving. However, it has been recognized that driving while the driver is holding a cellular phone to the driver's ear has, in certain cases, met with disaster. Some states and some local municipalities have mandated "hands free" cellular phone usage when driving a motorized vehicle. Although installed car phones are still obtainable, they are much less practical in that they do not provide portability. Additionally, the installed car phones are more expensive than portable cellular (or digital) phones. More often, the user carries the cellular phone with him or her wherever he or she goes, including in and out of a motorized vehicle.
Magnetic couplers, or holders, have been known to secure items such as a medallion to metal plates on car dashboards. However, most cars today contain dashboards and various interior components that are made from man-made materials (e.g. plastics). As such, traditional magnetic couplers do not work, as they will not magnetically bond to a non-ferrous surface.
Moreover, the coupled devices, including cellular phones, have not been known to be sufficiently secured to a magnetic base (and ultimately the surface to which the holding device is to be secured) or that the coupling was too strong to readily uncouple the magnetic coupler in order to access or change the coupled device.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved magnetic coupler that can hold a variety of ferrous and nonferrous articles to a non-ferrous structure, such as a car dashboard. Another object of the present invention is to provide a variety of embodiments of magnetic coupling devices that can accommodate a variety of nonferrous useful articles, typically used in a car, to secure the nonferrous useful article to a car dashboard. Another object is to have both a quick and secure coupling and a quick and easy uncoupling features such that the holding devices may be readily accessed when desired, or easily changed to another holding device, yet, remain securely coupled to the magnetic base until the uncoupling of the holding device from the magnetic base is desired by the user. Another object is to provide hands free use of a portable cellular phone when the owner/user of the cellular phone is driving.